Being single is 'bad for health'

Happily married types have long suspected what new research confirms: singledom is harmful to your health. And to theirs.

Marrying later in life, rising numbers of single-parent families and increasing divorce rates are placing an unsustainable burden on natural resources, new research has shown.

Biologists studying the Earth's biodiversity have found the increase in homes with fewer people - largely a result of the breakdown of the traditional family unit - damage the environment more than population growth.

Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University, and colleagues from Stanford University in California, have reported in the latest edition of the science journal Nature, that a greater number of individual households resulted in an inefficient use of fuel for lighting, heating, refrigeration and cooking.

The researchers examined population patterns of life in 141 countries, and 76 "hot spot" regions rich in a variety of wildlife, including Australia.